Joseph Stalin: A Life from Beginning to End
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Narrated by:
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Stephen Paul Aulridge Jr.
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By:
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Hourly History
About this listen
There can be no doubt that Stalin is one of the most notorious and controversial figures in history. He presents a puzzling paradox for both psychologists and sociologists; he was simultaneously revered, feared, loved, and hated during his lifetime. So much has been written about the life of Joseph Stalin, and yet upon closer inspection, he still seems to present us with quite an enigma.
His cruelty towards his political opponents and dissidents is well known, but so are his efforts to go out of his way in lifting up the most downtrodden and desperate members of Soviet society, giving them the chance that Tsarist Russia would not.
Inside you will hear about....
- A Change of Weather
- The Real Revolution Begins
- From Exile to Supreme Leader
- A Brave New Word
- Stalin’s Gambit
- Stalin Makes a Comeback
- Defending the Capitol
- Going West
Stalin is known as a brutish dictator who struck a bargain with Hitler as if he was an old friend, yet it was this same Stalin who would almost single-handedly save Europe from Nazi occupation. Who was Stalin? What did he really want? In this audiobook, we explore the complexities and nuances of the living, breathing conundrum who called himself Joseph Stalin.
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Story
Few years can justly be said to have transformed the earth: 1914 did. In July that year, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Britain and France were poised to plunge the world into a war that would kill or wound 37 million people, tear down the fabric of society, uproot ancient political systems and set the course for the bloodiest century in human history.
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How the war started
- By Jean on 02-24-14
By: Paul Ham
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Israel
- A Concise History of a Nation Reborn
- By: Daniel Gordis
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 16 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Israel is a tiny state, and yet it has captured the world's attention, aroused its imagination, and, lately, been the object of its opprobrium. Why does such a small country speak to so many global concerns? More pressingly: Why does Israel make the decisions it does? And what lies in its future? We cannot answer these questions until we understand Israel's people and the questions and conflicts, the hopes and desires, that have animated their conversations and actions.
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Excellent, mildly but honestly biased, terrible narration
- By Schaq on 04-01-17
By: Daniel Gordis
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Reset
- Iran, Turkey, and America's Future
- By: Stephen Kinzer
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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What can the United States do to help realize its dream of a peaceful, democratic Middle East? Stephen Kinzer offers a surprising answer in this paradigm-shifting book. Two countries in the region, he argues, are America's logical partners in the 21st century: Turkey and Iran.
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challenges stereotypes
- By R.S. on 06-14-10
By: Stephen Kinzer
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Churchill, Hitler, and 'The Unnecessary War'
- How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World
- By: Patrick J. Buchanan
- Narrated by: Don Leslie
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In this monumental and provocative history, Patrick Buchanan makes the case that, if not for the blunders of British statesmen - Winston Churchill first among them - the horrors of two world wars and the Holocaust might have been avoided and the British Empire might never have collapsed into ruins.
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A classic of history books
- By Benedict on 04-04-09
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The Russian Revolution
- A New History
- By: Sean McMeekin
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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From an award-winning scholar comes this definitive, single-volume history that illuminates the tensions and transformations of the Russian Revolution. In The Russian Revolution, acclaimed historian Sean McMeekin traces the events which ended Romanov rule, ushered the Bolsheviks into power, and introduced Communism to the world. Between 1917 and 1922, Russia underwent a complete and irreversible transformation.
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Great Book on the Russian Revolution
- By Nostromo on 09-02-17
By: Sean McMeekin
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The End
- The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944-1945
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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From the preeminent Hitler biographer, a fascinating and original exploration of how the Third Reich was willing and able to fight to the bitter end of World War II. Countless books have been written about why Nazi Germany lost World War II, yet remarkably little attention has been paid to the equally vital question of how and why it was able to hold out as long as it did.
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Engrossing yet horrifying
- By Liz on 10-14-11
By: Ian Kershaw
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A Thousand Hills
- Rwanda's Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It
- By: Stephen Kinzer
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Paul Kagame grew up as a wretched refugee. He and a group of comrades, determined to force their way back home after a generation of exile, designed one of the most audacious covert operations in the history of clandestine war. Then, after taking power, they amazed the world by stabilizing and reviving their devastated country.
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Best Most Comprehensive Work on Rwanda
- By Greg on 07-30-10
By: Stephen Kinzer
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Mao
- The Unknown Story
- By: Jung Chang, Jon Halliday
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 29 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on a decade of research and on interviews with many of Mao's close circle in China who have never talked before, and with virtually everyone outside China who had significant dealings with him, this is the most authoritative biography of Mao ever written.
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Fills many gaps! Very good..but!
- By Jene on 08-07-06
By: Jung Chang, and others
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Stalin, Volume I
- Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928
- By: Stephen Kotkin
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 38 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Volume One of Stalin begins and ends in January 1928 as Stalin boards a train bound for Siberia, about to embark upon the greatest gamble of his political life. He is now the ruler of the largest country in the world, but a poor and backward one, far behind the great capitalist countries in industrial and military power, encircled on all sides. In Siberia, Stalin conceives of the largest program of social reengineering ever attempted.
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Excellent Book But First Time Listener Beware
- By Nostromo on 03-23-15
By: Stephen Kotkin
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Vietnam War: A Captivating Guide to the Second Indochina War
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 2 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The Vietnam War represented a watershed not only in American and Vietnamese history but also internationally. It wasn’t just a battle between two nations, but between two ideologies, two military strategies, and a fight for the hearts and minds of two vastly different national populations.
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quick and accurate
- By BDG-ALPHA on 07-31-20